Incheon City Councilor Shin Dong-seop Advocates for Promotion from Grade 2 to Grade 1 in Plenary Session
A proposal has emerged at the Incheon City Council to upgrade the rank of the Incheon Fire Headquarters Chief.
According to the City Council on the 1st, Shin Dong-seop, a member of the Administrative and Safety Committee (Guk, Namdong 4), urged in a 5-minute speech during the 5th plenary session of the 295th regular meeting held on the 28th of last month to raise the rank of the Incheon Fire Headquarters Chief from the current Grade 2 (Fire Commissioner) to Grade 1 (Senior Fire Commissioner).
Assemblyman Shin stated, "According to the 'Framework Act on the Management of Disasters and Safety,' the Fire Headquarters Chief must establish an integrated response system as the Emergency Rescue Control Team Leader in the event of disasters including fires, and maintain smooth cooperation with related agencies." However, he pointed out, "The rank of the Incheon Fire Headquarters Chief is 'Grade 2,' which is lower than the Incheon Police Chief and the Central Regional Maritime Police Chief, who are 'Grade 1 (Senior Police Commissioner),' making effective disaster response and the establishment of an organic cooperation system difficult."
He argued, "The fire chiefs of Seoul, Busan, and Gyeonggi are at Grade 1, and especially Busan, which has a population and fire conditions similar to Incheon, upgraded the rank in 2018. Despite Incheon being a large city housing three economic free zones leading South Korea's economy, an international airport, and a port, the Fire Headquarters Chief has remained at Grade 2 since 2012."
In fact, Incheon oversees the largest area among the six metropolitan cities, covering 1,065 km², and has a high risk of large-scale disasters due to the concentration of hazardous material handling facilities and industrial complexes such as the world's largest LNG production base and petrochemical complexes.
Moreover, with a population exceeding 3 million and the highest population growth rate among 17 metropolitan local governments, there has been a consistent public demand in the local community to upgrade the rank of the Fire Headquarters Chief to match the city's scale.
The government submitted and approved the agenda to upgrade the ranks of city and provincial fire chiefs at the 5th Central-Local Cooperation Meeting held in October last year. Subsequently, in March this year, the presidential decree on the 'Standards for Administrative Organization and Staffing of Local Governments' was revised to elevate the ranks of fire chiefs in Daegu, Ulsan, Chungbuk, and Jeonbuk from 'Senior Fire Commissioner (Grade 3)' to 'Fire Commissioner (Grade 2).' However, the rank upgrade for the Incheon Fire Headquarters Chief was not reflected this time either.
Assemblyman Shin emphasized, "There have been 26 fire response orders involving the mobilization of all fire personnel in large-scale fires over the past three years, highlighting the need for a systematic disaster management system each time. To establish a swift command system and efficient disaster control, the rank of the Incheon Fire Headquarters Chief must be upgraded, and an intermediate position of 'Senior Fire Commissioner' should be created within the Fire Headquarters to develop into a systematic and well-coordinated organization."
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